Homebuyers Aim To Block 'Egregious' Deal In Related Case

By Celeste Bott

Homebuyers asked an Illinois federal judge to block an allegedly inadequate settlement attorneys in a related antitrust case reached with one of the real estate firms they're suing, saying allowing their claims to be released on the cheap would encourage "forum and judge shopping in class action litigation."

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Judge Seems Poised To Keep Block On Trump Voting Order

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge Thursday appeared to hold fast to her two prior rulings that President Donald Trump lacks authority to change voting laws via an executive order requiring physical documentation of citizenship and voiding mailed ballots that arrive after Election Day.

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Walmart Will Pay Up To $100M To End FTC's Driver Pay Suit

By Matthew Santoni

The Federal Trade Commission and 11 states have reached a $100 million deal with Walmart to settle claims the company misled its "Spark" delivery program drivers over the amount they would be paid, and deceived customers over how much of the tips they paid would go to their drivers, the agency announced Thursday.

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Arete Wealth, GC Can't Slip SEC Claims In Offering Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can move forward with its case against a broker-dealer and its former general counsel and chief compliance officer over an allegedly fraudulent stock offering by a "sham" energy company that Arete representatives sold, an Illinois federal judge ruled Thursday, while dismissing some claims related to off-channel communications and settlement releases, among other things.

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Brief

Senate Judiciary Advances Illinois US Atty

By Nadia Dreid

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Gregory Gilmore to be U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois in a quick vote that passed without comment.

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SEC Fines Ill. Adviser Over COVID-Era Loan Valuations

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that formerly registered investment firm Madison Capital Funding LLC will pay $900,000 to settle claims that it did not properly gauge the effects of market disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic when selling certain loans.

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PepsiCo Loses Another Frito-Lay Tax Deficiency Fight In Ill.

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois state panel affirmed a trial court's finding that PepsiCo improperly excluded Frito-Lay profits from state income tax calculations by factoring expatriates' foreign payroll into its considerations, handing the company its second appellate loss on the issue.

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Justices Told 'Skinny Label' Case Puts Generic Drugs At Risk

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. government, one named sponsor of the Hatch-Waxman Act, a generic-drug industry group and more have warned the U.S. Supreme Court that a decision that allowed a patent case involving a so-called skinny label to proceed threatens the availability of low-cost generic drugs.

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What New Packaging Waste Laws Mean For Franchisors

With states ramping up laws establishing extended producer responsibility programs for packaging materials, paper products and single-use food service ware, restaurant and hospitality franchisors face special compliance challenges as they navigate a delicate balance between conflicting priorities, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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Series

Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

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Goldstein Testimony 'Solidified' Case, Juror Says

By Jared Foretek

One of the 12 jurors who convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein on a slew of tax and mortgage charges on Feb. 25 told Law360 that the key moment in the 16-day trial was when the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer took the stand, with the juror calling the testimony "a performance."

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Up Next At High Court: Drug User Gun Possession

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its February oral argument session by hearing its newest Second Amendment case over a federal law that prohibits drug users from possessing firearms, as well as a dispute over whether motor carrier brokers can be held liable for truck crashes under state law.

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Del. Supreme Court OKs Disputed Corporate Law Rework

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's Supreme Court upheld Friday hotly contested legislation approved by state lawmakers in 2025 that expanded liability shields for some corporate acts involving controlling stockholders or potentially conflicted officers or directors, and narrowed public access to some corporate books and records.

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When Murder Charges Reach People Who Didn't Kill

By Marco Poggio

Felony murder murder charges permit people to be convicted of murder, even when they neither killed nor intended to kill. Critics say the charges drive excessive sentences, and a wave of reconsideration in courts and legislatures have led states like California to narrow their reach, while others are weighing whether the long prison terms tied to them are constitutional.

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Optimum Says Apollo, BlackRock Bullied Kirkland Withdrawal

By Bryan Koenig

Optimum Communications is escalating its fight accusing Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other financial giants of an illegal joint campaign constricting its ability to refinance debt, amending its New York federal court complaint to also accuse the companies of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as its transaction counsel.

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Calif. Mass Tort Firm Drops Suit Against ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

By James Mills

A California mass torts firm seeking to overturn the state's law banning alternative business structure fee sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonattorneys dropped its suit Thursday, three months after filing it.

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Marshall Dennehey Can't Arbitrate Atty's Sex Harassment Suit

By Grace Elletson

An Ohio appeals court declined Thursday to send a former Marshall Dennehey PC attorney's sexual harassment suit to arbitration, ruling that mocking comments he faced from a senior lawyer triggered the protection of a law that shields sex misconduct disputes from being kicked out of court.

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Injury Defense Atty Scolded For 'Gotcha' Litigation Tactic

By Y. Peter Kang

A Florida appellate panel on Friday upheld the dismissal of a car crash suit after plaintiffs' counsel failed to appear at a pretrial hearing due to illness, but also chastised defense counsel for a "gotcha" litigation tactic in not informing the judge of opposing counsel's illness despite knowing about it.

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Katten Pushes For Atty Immunity To Non-Clients' Suit In Texas

By Lynn LaRowe

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is asking the Texas Supreme Court to shut down a state court lawsuit brought by co-defendants of a client they successfully represented in a federal criminal investigation over alleged healthcare fraud, saying lower courts that refused to dismiss are seeking to limit the state's "hundred-year-old doctrine" of attorney immunity.

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Pro Bono Spotlight

NY Prisoner Gets Rare $600K Deal With Gibson Dunn's Help

By Parker Quinlan

A man incarcerated in a New York state prison who was placed in solitary confinement for over six years has obtained a $600,000 settlement after filing a pro se lawsuit that drew the aid of pro bono counsel from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

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Calif. Bar Charges Atty With Misconduct In LA Utility Case

By Dorothy Atkins

The California State Bar has lobbed disciplinary charges against veteran plaintiffs attorney Paul Kiesel, accusing him of helping divert class action litigation against the city of Los Angeles over a botched utility billing system, allegations which he vigorously denied and slammed as "unfounded, misguided and fundamentally wrong."

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Markey Pushes Bill To Bolster Immigrant Legal Access

By Ganesh Setty

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., announced on Friday that he will introduce legislation to help immigrants secure legal counsel in deportation and other immigration proceedings via a $100 million grant program.

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Hub Hires: Seyfarth, Greenberg Traurig, Outside GC

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts may be buried under a blanket of snow, but the Boston legal market was anything but frozen in February. Seyfarth bolstered its depth in mergers and acquisitions, Greenberg Traurig snagged a benefits attorney, and Outside General Counsel hired a new managing partner.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen Linklaters sue a shipping company, high-street clothing giant Urban Outfitters hit with an intellectual property claim, Ithaca Energy sue rival Chrysaor, and cabaret club magnate Alex Proud face legal action with his nightclubs in financial turmoil.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

A proxy season preview report showed that nearly three-quarters of shareholder proposals for annual corporate meetings among Russell 3000 companies this year have gone to a vote. The U.S. Department of Labor unveiled the details of a long-awaited proposed rule to replace a previous administration's regulation outlining how to decide if a worker is an employee or independent contractor. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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